Henry Luebbe Self-Framed Tin Soda Signs 1900
These are two self-framed tin signs manufactured by Henry Luebbe Soda & Mineral Water Manufacturing Co. from Hermann, MO., Circa 1900. Each sign features a young girl wearing a white dress and flowers surrounding her. The colorful and beautiful images of children or women for soda advertisements were typical during this time period. These Henry Luebbe self-framed tin soda signs were most likely hung on the walls of general stores or neighborhood shops.
Self-framed tin signs are highly sought after by collectors because of their bright colors and striking lithography. Tin signs went through a lithographic process, a printing method that started in the early 1800’s. The lithographic process was made easy with the invention of the lithographic offset press. The process printed one color for each run through the press. Accordingly, each color required a new printing plate for the individual color application. So the more colors on the tin, the longer and more complicated it was to produce the item.
In order to make a self-framed tin sign, the lithographed artwork process was applied to one piece of sheet metal. The main image was printed in the center and the simulated frame was printed on the same piece of metal. The entire metal was put into a machine in order to bend it to the sign’s finished shape.
